Eargo

Eargo
Private
Founded 2010
Founder Florent Michel (Inventor)
Raphael Michel (CEO)
Daniel Shen (Co-Founder)
Headquarters Mountain View, California, US
Area served
 United States
Products Hearing aids
Website Official Website

Eargo is an American hearing aid manufacturer based[1] in Mountain View, California.[2][3] The device design was inspired by a fishing fly and are generally smaller and less visible than traditional in-ear hearing aid devices.[4] Each unit is also rechargeable.[5] The hearing devices were made available for order in June 2015, and are available in 35 states in the U.S.[6]

History

Eargo was founded in 2010 by Florent Michel,[7] his son Raphael Michel, and Daniel Shen.[2][8] Florent—an ear, nose, and throat surgeon—serves as the designer and inventor[6] while Raphael serves as the company's CEO and Shen as the company's Chief Science & Clinical Officer.[2] Soon after founding the company, they were joined by CTO Bret Hirscher and SVP Engineering Mike Perry, who had worked with Raphael Michel nearly a decade earlier, and Chief Business Officer Matthew Welch. They received seed funding in 2013 from a range of seed funds and angels as well as Maveron.[6] In June 2015, they received $13.6 million in Series A funding from a group of 9 investors, including Maveron, Crosslink Capital, Dolby Family Ventures, and Birchmere Ventures.[1][9][10]

On December 9, 2015, Eargo announced its $25m in Series B funding led by New Enterprise Associates. The funds will allow Eargo to scale business operations and accelerate further production.[11]

Products

Eargo produces hearing devices that are built with a small speaker surrounded by silicone fibers.[7] The design is modeled after the standard fishing fly and is a certified Class 1 medical device. The medical-grade silicone fibers (called Flexi Fibers™) allow natural bass sounds to flow more freely into the ear canal.[10][12] Many other in ear hearing aids occlude the ear canal, but the Eargo apparatus is an open-canal device that is designed to provide more airflow, comfort, and to allow ambient bass sounds to pass through.[7][13]

The devices come in 2 different sizes and are pre-programmed with 4 standard profiles.[1] Users can also send their personal audiograms to licensed hearing professionals at Eargo who will custom-calibrate the device for that individual's specific needs.[6] To change the setting, wearers can double-tap their ear, and an acoustic switch changes the sound profile. The settings for the device in one ear can be changed independently of the device in the other ear.[7] The hearing aids can be charged using a portable charging device included with the Eargo devices. The hearing devices are designed to hold a charge for up to 16 hours. The portable charging device itself is designed to last up to a week on a single charge from the charging base that uses inductive charging technology.[6][5][10] The company's founders have stated that these devices are designed with younger people in mind because there is often a greater stigma surrounding standard, bulky hearing aids.[8][14][15]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Magee, Christine (25 June 2015). "With $13 Million From Maveron, Eargo Is The Hearing Aid Of The Future". TechCrunch. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 "Eargo". www.crunchbase.com. CrunchBase. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  3. ↑ "Eargo Secures $13,000,000 Series A Financing Round". www.Xconomy.com. Xconomy. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  4. ↑ Lee, Tyler (26 June 2015). "Eargo Could Be The Hearing Aid Of The Future". UberGizmo. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  5. 1 2 Sarrell, Matthew D. (4 August 2015). "Eargo Hearing Aids". PC Magazine. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Sherman, Michael (25 June 2015). "Maveron-backed Eargo looks to reinvent the hearing aid with rechargeable devices modeled on a fishing fly". GeekWire. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Parvez, Husain (26 June 2015). "Eargo Is The Heading Aid Of The Future: Backed By $13 Million From Maveron". TechVoize. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  8. 1 2 "Innovative hearing aid Eargo available for order". Yahoo. 25 June 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  9. ↑ "June 25, 2015 - Funding Round - Series A". www.crunchbase.com. CrunchBase. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  10. 1 2 3 Perenson, Melissa (25 June 2015). "Hands-on with Eargo, a New Approach to Hearing Aids". Wearables Insider. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  11. ↑ "Eargo Raises $25M in Series B Funding From New Enterprise Associates". Reuters. 2015-12-09. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
  12. ↑ "Eargo is all about that bass… and that mid-range, and the treble". Medical Plastic News. 30 June 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  13. ↑ Huang, Ruochen (30 July 2015). "Investments For Hearables Surge". TechCrunch. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  14. ↑ Dunhaime-Ross, Arielle (24 August 2015). "Can technology make a hearing-centric world more accessible?". The Verge. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
  15. ↑ "Eargo Hearing Device". Hearing Tracker. 2015. Retrieved 5 September 2015.

External links

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